Shupirates.com
Men’s soccer midfielder Andrew LoManto has had a pretty exciting past couple of weeks.
It began on October 18, when LoManto’s game-winning goal in the 69th minute propelled the Pirates to a stunning 1-0 win over third-ranked Georgetown. Some would say it is the perfect ending to the senior’s career at Seton Hall.
“Honestly, I always joke with the guys and they all joke with me, but after the goal I blacked out and I don’t remember anything,” LoManto said. “Even during the goal I closed my eyes and just shot it. But it was the greatest goal I had ever scored. Not even being a nice goal or anything like that, it was just so impactful; we were able to get three points against a top-three team in the nation at home in front of our crowd. It was our first Big East win of the season.”
The senior from Massapequa, N.Y., helped boost the team’s morale with the lone goal of the Pirates’ upset over the Hoyas. It’s the kind of boost that could take the team over the top, in time for a chance to earn a playoff berth. But it is hard for LoManto, as this season comes to a close, to lose sight of his overall career at Seton Hall.
“Seton Hall soccer has pretty much been everything to me, for the past four years,” LoManto said. “With the guys, spending all of my time with them, I consider them brothers. From day one—move-in day, it’s been a journey with them, all of the ups and downs, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
Four years ago, LoManto decided to come to Seton Hall, with a couple of intriguing reasons.
“A lot of it was the ex-coach, Manny Schellscheidt,” he said. “He really influenced me coming here. First, seeing me at some of the tournaments I was in, I asked him to come and he made an effort to come. Also, Seton Hall being Seton Hall, they’re in the Big East, it was a great opportunity for me.”
LoManto has not only found success on the pitch for Seton Hall, but in the classroom, something attested to by his father.
“It’s been a really great experience for a couple of different reasons,” Andrew’s father, Ben LoManto said. “Academically, he’s had a great time there, he’s really grown there. As far as athletics, he’s had some really great times there. He’s really grown as a man there, as an athlete and as a student and as his father, I couldn’t be prouder of him.”
The public relations and journalism major has used his resources on campus; interning with Drive Safer, LLC last summer. There, LoManto worked with the public relations and social media team in the sales program. In fact, LoManto said he even contributed to the start of a sales program with Drive Safer, LLC.
LoManto, though, has aspirations to remain involved with the sport of soccer once he graduates.
“After college I’m going to take a year off and try to get a job with one of the Major League Soccer teams,” he said. “Then, I’m going to go to law school, so I’m taking the LSAT’s right after I graduate. I have an in with a couple people in the MLS, so I’m trying to do that and work some magic and become a sports agent—some Jerry McGuire kind of stuff.”
Right now, LoManto is just enjoying the last couple of weeks of his career with the Pirates. But the lessons he has learned over the past four years is what he will take with him once he leaves.
“I think what I’ll take with me most is definitely dedication,” he said. “To be dedicated to one sport for four years, I mean I’ve been dedicated to it since I was four-years-old, is a lot. You have to mature—we came in as a freshman class kind of immature making a lot of mistakes, but now, if you look at us were much more mature as a team.”
You can catch Andrew LoManto for the last time at home, on Saturday, Nov. 1, Senior Day, when the Pirates host Marquette at 7 p.m.
David Heim can be reached at david.heim@student.shu.edu or on twitter @davidheim12.
